Centre scans TS fund utilisation

Hyderabad: With the differences between the State Government and the Centre becoming intense, the Union Government is said to be looking into the central grants given to the state under various centrally-sponsored programmes and their utilisation. It wants to see if there was any diversion of funds, according to sources.

The ministries of Urban Development, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Health, Education are examining the grants and how the state government had spent them. They are verifying the utilisation certificates submitted by the state government during the last financial year.

It may be mentioned here that the Centre releases funds directly to the gram panchayats. There are allegations that the state had reportedly utilised the money for other purposes.

"The Panchayat Raj Ministry, it is said, had asked the local panchayats to present a report on the fund utilisation," officials said. The Centre feels that implementation of Ayushman Bharat national health scheme in Telangana was also not effectively implemented. The Union ministry is finding reasons why the government is not promoting the scheme and how it had utilised the other central grants given for health programmes.

The utilization of funds for the improvement of infrastructure in the urban local bodies and strengthening of the school education system were also under the scrutiny, sources said.

The release of funds to the state in 2022-2023 will be done based on the reports on the effective implementation of the centrally-sponsored schemes last year. The Central authorities said that the CAG reports on Telangana State finance managements were also under scrutiny.